Lifeboat Foundation

Federal, state and local authorities continue to investigate a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to peaches as new retailers are added to the related recall list.

All of the implicated peaches were packed or supplied by Prima Wawona or Wawona Packing Co., both of California.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that epidemiologic evidence indicates peaches are the likely source of this outbreak. As of Aug. 19, the CDC reported a total of 68 confirmed patients across nine states. The Food and Drug Administration’s investigation to identify a source of contamination is ongoing.

💥💥💥💥💥💥💥Humanitarian Day, the UK Space Agency announced £3.4 million of new funding for 10 leading-edge projects, backing UK academics using space to tackle global development problems – from the spread of malaria to human trafficking and forced labor. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths from malaria alone.

These projects will develop solutions to global challenges that will open up new opportunities for UK space expertise to help countries overseas to deal with myriad problems. Among the others being backed are space-based solutions that will help protect wildlife habitats in Kenya and another that will improve resilience to flooding in Bangladesh, which is suffering the most prolonged monsoon rains in decades.

On World Humanitarian Day, the UK Space Agency announced £3.4 million of new funding for 10 leading-edge projects, backing UK academics using space to tackle global development problems – from the spread of malaria to human trafficking and forced labor. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths from malaria alone.

Continue reading “New UK space projects to boost global sustainable development receive £3.4 million cash boost” »

To address this need, researchers have developed a strong, flexible filter out of a silica aerogel that efficiently kills bacteria, resists getting clogged, and needs just a quick dip in dilute bleach to renew its disinfecting properties.

Read about the loofah-inspired aerogel here: https://bit.ly/3lhulJo?fbclid=IwAR3mLvaN1ruT0KRaTWynbxoTe9O9…3d-jDXqNUU

Millions of people worldwide die every year from waterborne diseases because of a lack of affordable, practical disinfection technologies. To address this need, researchers have developed a strong, flexible filter out of a silica aerogel that efficiently kills bacteria, resists getting clogged, and needs just a quick dip in dilute bleach to renew its disinfecting properties.

Read about the loofah-inspired aerogel here: https://bit.ly/3lhulJo

Low-cost, functionalized silica material kills bacteria instantly and is easy to clean.

Continue reading “Loofah-inspired aerogel efficiently filters microbes from water” »

Humans are not the only species facing a potential threat from SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.

An international team of scientists used genomic analysis to compare the main cellular receptor for the virus in humans—angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE2—in 410 different species of vertebrates, including birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

ACE2 is normally found on many different types of cells and tissues, including epithelial cells in the nose, mouth and lungs. In humans, 25 amino acids of the ACE2 protein are important for the virus to bind and gain entry into cells.

Metabolic plasticity allows cancer cells to adjust their metabolic phenotypes to adapt in hostile environments. There is an urgent need to understand the cross-talk between gene regulation and metabolic pathways underlying cancer metabolic plasticity. We establish a theoretical framework to decode the coupling of gene regulation and metabolic pathways. Our work characterizes a hybrid metabolic state where cells can use both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and a possible metabolically inactive state where cells have low activity of both glycolysis and OXPHOS. We show that targeting both OXPHOS and glycolysis may be necessary to eliminate cancer aggressiveness. Our work serves as a platform to target abnormal metabolism in cancer by modulating both genes and metabolic pathways.

Metabolic plasticity enables cancer cells to switch their metabolism phenotypes between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) during tumorigenesis and metastasis. However, it is still largely unknown how cancer cells orchestrate gene regulation to balance their glycolysis and OXPHOS activities. Previously, by modeling the gene regulation of cancer metabolism we have reported that cancer cells can acquire a stable hybrid metabolic state in which both glycolysis and OXPHOS can be used. Here, to comprehensively characterize cancer metabolic activity, we establish a theoretical framework by coupling gene regulation with metabolic pathways. Our modeling results demonstrate a direct association between the activities of AMPK and HIF-1, master regulators of OXPHOS and glycolysis, respectively, with the activities of three major metabolic pathways: glucose oxidation, glycolysis, and fatty acid oxidation.

Purpose: This was an open-label phase 1a study assessing the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), safety, and tolerability of CXCR4 peptide antagonist, LY2510924, administered in combination with durvalumab in patients with advanced refractory solid tumors.

Methods: Patients received LY2510924 at 20, 30, or 40 mg subcutaneous (SC) once daily in combination with durvalumab at 1500 mg intravenously (IV) on day 1 of each 28-day cycle. The primary objective was to assess the MTD and safety of LY2510924 SC daily in combination with durvalumab in patients with advanced (metastatic and/or unresectable) solid tumors. Secondary objectives included pharmacokinetics (PK) and the antitumor activity of LY2510924 in combination with durvalumab. Exploratory objectives were biomarker analysis, including pharmacodynamic markers, relevant to LY2510924 and durvalumab, including immune functioning, drug targets, cancer-related pathways, and the disease state.

Results: Nine patients (three each at 20, 30, and 40 mg) were enrolled in the study (eight patients with pancreatic cancer and one patient with rectal cancer). The majority of patients completed one or two cycles (100.0% ≥ 1 cycle; 88.9% ≥ 2 cycles) of LY2510924 and durvalumab. No dose limiting toxicities were reported. Most common (10%) treatment-emergent adverse events were injection-site reaction (44.4%), fatigue (33.3%), and increased white blood cell count (33.3%). PK parameters for combination were similar to those reported in previous studies when given as monotherapy. Best overall response of stable disease was observed in four (44.4%) patients and one patient had unconfirmed partial response.

Researchers have fashioned ultrathin silicon nanoantennas that trap and redirect light, for applications in quantum computing, LIDAR and even the detection of viruses.

Light is notoriously fast. Its speed is crucial for rapid information exchange, but as light zips through materials, its chances of interacting and exciting atoms and molecules can become very small. If scientists can put the brakes on light particles, or photons, it would open the door to a host of new technology applications.

Now, in a paper published on August 17, 2020, in Nature Nanotechnology, Stanford scientists demonstrate a new approach to slow light significantly, much like an echo chamber holds onto sound, and to direct it at will. Researchers in the lab of Jennifer Dionne, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford, structured ultrathin silicon chips into nanoscale bars to resonantly trap light and then release or redirect it later. These “high-quality-factor” or “high-Q” resonators could lead to novel ways of manipulating and using light, including new applications for quantum computing, virtual reality and augmented reality; light-based WiFi; and even the detection of viruses like SARS-CoV-2.

Amid a pandemic, civil unrest and a divisive US election season, we now have an asteroid zooming toward us.

On the day before the presidential vote, no less.

Yep. The celestial object known as 2018VP1 is projected to come close to Earth on November 2, according to the Center for Near Earth Objects Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Continue reading “NASA: An Asteroid Will Come Close To Earth Right Before Election Day” »